The Wings of Freedom
by charm545
Summary: Modern AU where Armin likes to bake, Eren has anger management issues, and Mikasa is in love with her adoptive brother.
1. Chapter 1

**I have many things planned for this story, so if people seem to like it then there will be lots more coming.**

**As always, I don't own Shingeki no kyojin or any of its characters.**

* * *

"Armiiiiin! Armin hurry!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!"

The blonde boy gave a small laugh as he cut the cake with his knife and placed a slice on each plate. He heard a light moan coming from the living room as he took the forks out of the kitchen cabinet.

"Just hold on a little longer!"

He placed one fork on each plate and took one plate in each hand, another balancing against his chest and on his left arm. He ran back to the living room.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm here!"

Armin smiled as he handed Eren his plate. A look of pure joy and relief filled his features. He cut a small piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth. He looked at the blue eyed boy with awe and admiration.

"This is your best cake yet, Armin!" Eren exclaimed before eating some more. The blonde looked at him fondly.

"You say that every time!"

"And I mean it every time!"

Armin chuckled as he handed Mikasa her plate.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Armin took his place to the left of Eren while Mikasa sat to his right. Automatically the two of them snuggled up to the boy in the middle, the physical contact subconsciously calming him.

"What movie are we watching today?" Asked Eren.

"I don't mind but I think Mikasa should choose! She never does!"

"You're right! Mikasa! What do you want to watch?"

The girl in question was silent as she cut a piece of cake with her fork.

"Whatever you want to watch is fine with me."

Eren scowled.

"I choose all the time! Come on! What do you want?"

"I want what you want."

"Ugh!"

Eren growled as he stuck another piece of cake into his mouth. He mumbled under his breath and Armin chuckled.

"Fine, if that's what you want then I'll choose." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then a knowing smirk appeared on his face. "I choose _she´s the man_"

Eren tried to hold back a laugh as he saw Mikasa's face twitch.

"You know I don't like that movie…" She whispered. Mikasa had always had an unexplainable despise for that film. She respected the fact that it was based on Shakespeare's "twelfth night" but she found it gross and completely humorless. Neither Armin nor Eren had particularly strong opinions about it, but the brown haired boy enjoyed watching it to spite his adoptive sister.

"You had your chance to choose."

And so that is what they watched. They always went to Armin's house to watch a movie on Tuesdays after school. Just like they went to the park and bought ice cream on Mondays, Eren and Mikasa's house to study on Wednesdays, the central mall (and really, Armin's favorite bookstore) on Thursdays, and whatever special occurrence was in town that week on Fridays (movie theatre, the summer fair, a concert, etc). They had followed this schedule for years. They saw it more like tradition.

They were the kind of group that commented on movies, but the comments of each were very different. Armin would question the characters' motives behind their actions, he would make (quite accurate) predictions, and would always point out when something was scientifically impossible. Eren would always point out which characters he liked and disliked the most, he would also grown at any cheesy lines or very bad jokes. Mikasa stayed mostly quiet but did sometimes say what she thought would have made the situation better or why the main character was an idiot.

Another very important part of the movies-at-Armin's was the eating-at-Armin's. The blonde boy had found a passion for baking when he turned 10 and had excelled at it ever since. He would always bring pastries to homeroom, which was enough for all the students in their generation to hope to get that class with Armin. But he always saved the best one for Tuesdays, when his two best friends would come over. Eren was more than thrilled with his friend's hobby. When Armin told him he was going to try baking for the first time, Eren made him promise that he would taste at least a crumb of everything the blonde ever made.

Once the movie was over, Eren and Mikasa got ready to go home. Armin walked them to the door as they chatted amiably.

"Try to do those math problems on your own Eren, if you can't figure them out then I'll help you when we get together tomorrow. Mikasa; alone means you can't help him!"

The dark haired girl huffed in annoyance, but she knew that Armin was right.

"I'll give it my best shot! See you tomorrow!" They both waved goodbye before entering Eren's car (technically it was for both of them. Mikasa had a car but she never used it, she always went with Eren, so she convinced their parents to sell it.) and driving off.

Even once they were out of sight, Armin stayed outside. He leaned against the frame of the door in silence. The wind blew through his hair as he took a deep breath. His thoughts went to his oldest friend.

Eren Jeager.

Eren didn't have many friends when he was little. He was born with anger and bipolar disorder. He was very volatile and violent, which made all the kids afraid of him.

They met when they were 7. Armin was new at the school. He had been walking while reading a wonderful book his grandfather had given him about the most beautiful places in the world. Not watching where he was going, he bumped into 3 older kids. They took one look at him and immediately started picking on him and even kicked the book out of his hands.

It got to the point where Armin was certain they weren't going to leave until he was laying on the ground crying and covered in bruises, when suddenly a brown haired boy started yelling. He seemed furious. He beat them up, and scared them off (more for his reputation than for anything else).

All Armin could do was look at him with awe and admiration. The boy had hesitantly offered his hand, and Armin took it. The blonde showed the boy, Eren, his grandfather's book. They sat under a tree in the playground and were filled with wonder by the images and descriptions of those faraway places as they basked in the sudden warmth of friendship and security.

From that point on, they were inseparable. Armin's calm and reasonable manners were the perfect balance for Eren's intensity and recklessness. They completed each other quite well. Armin learned of Eren's condition but that is what he did: he _learned_. He explored every aspect of Eren's personality, even the scary parts, and discovered ways to help him and make him feel well.

Armin learned that signs of physical affection would keep Eren calm and feeling secure. It became a custom for them to always be touching in some way; holding hands, leaning on each other, an arm around the shoulder, anything. He also discovered that Eren didn't remember most of his actions after he went through a frenzy, and that the most effective way to get him out of it was to soothingly speak into his ear.

He also learned that almost no one seemed to understand him.

When they heard the word "bipolar" all they would hear was either "spoiled" or "dangerous". Many parents and teachers had asked for Eren's expulsion from the school for his violent tendencies, but the director was a friend of his parents and was well aware of their situation.

One day Armin couldn't take it anymore and started crying out of frustration. When Eren saw him he immediately worried.

"What's wrong?! Did someone try to pick on you again!? Who was it!? I´ll rip th-"

"No no! I-its not that." Armin quickly assured him before he could get angry. The beginnings of rage turned into deep concern.

"What is it then?"

Armin tried to calm down, but when he looked into Eren's caring eyes he just seemed to explode. The older boy quickly pulled him into his arms and held him tight.

"It´s not fair!" Armin sobbed. "You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for but no one sees that! They-they all think you´re crazy! That all you feel is anger! They all judge you when they know absolutely nothing!"

Eren was rubbing Armin's back and that just made the boy cry harder. They seemed to have exchanged roles at the moment. Eren rested his chin on the top of Armin's head.

"I don´t care." He said simply. Armin was shocked but what came out was a laugh. He shook his head, rubbing his face against Eren's chest.

"How can you say that?"

"None of those kids matter to me. You are the only one that matters. If you like me then everything is ok."

Armin felt like his heart was going to explode, both with pain and with love towards his friend. His hands, which had been clinging on to Eren's shirt, now moved around the boy's back until he was hugging him tightly. He cried harder, drenching Eren's shirt, but he didn't seem to mind. He just kept rubbing Armin's back and whispering soothingly just like Armin had done countless times.

For almost 2 years Eren and Armin were the school's most recognized duo. The teachers actually ordered for them to have the same classes together, for the blonde seemed to keep the crazy one calm and more focused on his work. From a young age, Armin proved to have a great academic performance and ended with the highest average of the entire generation. Eren's grades had greatly improved and so had his behavior. At recess, the two of them would always be either playing or lying on the grass and talking about how they would travel the world together when they grew up.

The Mikasa came along, and Armin couldn't have been happier. There was finally someone else who saw Eren for who he was and not as a frightening and dangerous animal. She was immediately accepting of all of Eren's qualities and was very protective of the boy. The 3 of them seemed to fit together like a puzzle. Although Mikasa didn't share their interest for the "outside world", they still had many things to talk about. Also, Armin now had someone he could talk to and relate to when it came to Eren. They were both united by their love towards the brunette, but bonded by a special connection of their own.

Years later the 3 of them moved to the same middle school. There they could start fresh. Eren was now able to control himself more and not depend fully on his friends. They were still one of the vital columns that kept him up, but now he was capable of hiding his anger and thinking before acting on his emotions.

Everyone was relatively friendly. Although most people wouldn't think much of it, for the trio it felt like an incredible blessing after all the years of struggling against fear and hatred. Eren's parents had decided it was best to not let the school know about his condition. They would only judge him for it and predispose him to discrimination. Even so, Eren was considered a very intense guy with anger management issues. The brunette still didn't care much about what others thought of him, but not being feared was an enjoyable feeling.

Now that they were in high school, their lives seemed to be just like the ones of regular teenagers. They sat during lunch with other students, but everyone recognized the special bond between Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Although Eren didn't _need _his friends to keep him in check at all times, his parents insisted that at least one of the 2 was in each of his classes (not that any of them were complaining).

Eren and Armin shared every class possible together. Possible meaning the classes that Armin was not taking in "advance placement". Those would be character education, social studies, and chemistry. They were also in homeroom together. Eren and Mikasa shared the other classes; calculus, English, Japanese, and their elective (physical education). The only class the 3 of them had together was chemistry. Mikasa had been very angry when she found out she wasn't with them in homeroom, social studies, or character education. She tried to speak to the counselor, but to no use ("What did you expect, Mikasa? You were practically death glaring the poor guy!" Eren chuckled.)

Things were well, but there were still those terrifying moments when a small word or a wrong look would set Eren off. He hadn't acted violently as of yet, but probably because either Armin or Mikasa had been there to hold him off. Now that he was older, there were more consequences to those kinds of actions. It was Armin's greatest fear that one day Eren would do something that would bring consequences that would affect the rest of his life. Things like not being able to go into the collage he wanted because of his discipline track, or never being able to maintain a relationship because other people didn't seem to be able to figure him out (or have the patience to). There were also all those nightmares of Eren getting into a fight that he wasn't strong enough to win. Armin remembered having many of those when he was little. To this day, he still had a few.

The blue eyed boy blinked rapidly, suddenly snapped out of his daze. How long had he been standing there? He rubbed his face with frustration.

"Macaroons… those will distract me for a while." He muttered as he closed the door and went to the kitchen.

* * *

Eren's leg kept bouncing up and down as he stared at his math homework in frustration.

"If it is in root form… and you need to turn it into vector form… you look for h and r?" The brunette looked up at his sister, who was sitting on the couch on the opposite end of the room. Before she could answer, Eren growled.

"Don't tell me! I need to figure it out!"

They were currently in the livingroom. Eren was doing homework on the dining table while Mikasa watched him, her hand hovering over her lips.

"And stop doing that!" Mikasa flinched lightly as she quickly moved her hand onto her lap. Although to others she always looked so unaffected by everything, Eren knew her better than anyone. For example, he knew that she acquired last year the bad habit of peeling her lips when she was stressed. It used to be only the very dry parts but it has gotten out of hand.

Unknown to her, the action of moving her hand so fast had accidentally peeled of the piece that she had been holding. It was quite big. She saw it on her lap and whispered "shit." Immediately she tasted blood in her mouth. Eren saw this and sighed with defeat. He stood up, went for the Kleenex box that was in a small table at the entrance of the house, and brought it to Mikasa.

"You really need to stop doing that."

Mikasa wiped her mouth.

"You really should be paying more attention in math."

Eren growled again and pulled at his hair.

"It just doesn't compute! And what's the use in calculus anyway!? None!"

Eren took a deep breath just like all his stupid therapies say he should. He suddenly felt tired. He let himself fall next to Mikasa on the sofa.

"I hope Armin can explain it to me tomorrow." He muttured. Eren was momentarily distracted from his agony when he caught sight of the piece of dried up lip on Mikasa's lap. He took it between his thumb and forefinger and looked at it.

Mikasa blushed at the thought that Eren was, in a way, touching her lips.

The brunet looked at his sister, more precisely, at her mouth and at the tissue that now had red blotches on it. He hated when she did that. He knew it was no use to tell her to stop (bad habits are not something one does consciously) but it hurt him to see her injured even if it was in such a small way.

Mikasa tried to force the blush to go away.

"If anyone can teach you, it's him. You'll understand it soon."

Eren finally looked away. He stretched lightly before standing up.

"I'm going to bed." Mikasa stood up.

"Yeah me too." She muttured.

They said their goodbyes and went to their respective rooms. Eren changed into his pajamas and threw himself on the bed. He lay face down for a while trying to keep his mind blank. Once he needed to breath, he turned onto his back. He sighed.

He couldn't stop thinking about that big piece of dried lip Mikasa had pulled off. He could still see her dabbing at her bloody lip with the tissue. It reminded him of when Armin fell down the stairs and bit his tongue. The sight of his mouth being all bloody had made Eren panic and start crying. In the end the cut didn't even need stitches, but it had scared Eren to no end. His 2 best friends were the people Eren cared about most in the world. He would be nothing without them.

He could remember clearly the day he met Armin. The 3 meanest kids in school were surrounding a little blonde boy. Eren could see the cruel expressions on their faces and could hear their ugly laughs. Burning rage filled him as he screamed and ran towards them. He punched and kicked them until they left. Although his rage was so large, as suddenly as it came it went away. He could hear the boy behind him gasp. Eren didn't want to turn around and look at him. He could already picture the fear in his eyes and his cries for Eren not to hurt him.

Reluctantly, he turned around, just to be met with the sight of two wide blue eyes opened in awe. Eren had been so shocked at his expression. No one had ever looked at him like that before. It took him a moment to be able to look away from those big and shiny eyes. Eren thought they were the prettiest thing he had ever seen. That was when he noticed that the boy was still on the ground. Hesitantly he offered the boy his hand. The brunet was ready for rejection, but the boy's eyes seemed to shine even more as he took it. They were best friends ever since.

When he was little, Eren never understood why the other kids didn't like him. It just became a fact for him. Something normal and expected. Armin was different. He was happy to be around Eren. He played and laughed with him. He showed him his grandfather's book and taught him about the "outside world" as he called it.

Eren hadn't cared that the other kids didn't like him. He had Armin and that was all he cared about. He had told the blonde boy as much one day when he found him crying. The sight had brought him great panic and heartbreak. Eren didn't ever want to see his friend in pain. Neither of them.

Eren thought back to the day he met Mikasa. A shudder went through him as he wished their meeting would have been on happier terms.

Mikasa's birth parents had been very rich. A group of bad people had wanted to kidnap their daughter to ask them for money, but the operation had gone all wrong. The guy sent to do it panicked and killed the two parents instead. They took Mikasa anyway, not knowing what to do with her.

Eren's father had been a friend of Mikasa's parents. They were going to visit them that day, that was how they found out what happened. Eren knew Mikasa was still out there and that she was in danger. Without his father knowing, he took one of the kitchen knifes and went on his own.

Eren knew exactly where the kidnappers were, for he had seen a strange car parked around the block on their way to Mikasa's house. He had thought it was weird and had even seen what looked like struggling inside, but he hadn't truly thought much of it. Now he was sure that was them.

He moved quickly and knocked on the window of the drivers seat. Eren hid the knife behind his back as he told the man that he was lost. The man offered to "give him a ride". He opened the copilot seat.

The rest was a bit of a blur. Eren made his way there, and the moment he was inside the car he attacked the man. Eren didn't even think of what he was doing. The anger inside him fuelled him with strength and he was able to kill him. Misaka had been in the back seat. There was a man sitting next to her. He saw what Eren did and was able to knock the knife out of his hands. It landed by Mikasa. As the man tried to choke Eren, the boy tried to talk to the dark haired girl. She was, naturally, afraid. She had just seen her family murdered before her, a kid murdering another man, and now a man trying to kill a kid. She was shaking and repeating, "I can't do it."

Eren had to make her understand. Fear couldn't be an excuse for not trying. She couldn't be afraid to loose. If she didn't try then she already lost.

"Fight!" he struggled to yell out. "If you don't fight you can't win!"

He prayed that she would understand what he meant. It took a moment for her to process it, but he saw the change in her. She suddenly held herself straighter. The fear in her eyes left, replaced by determination. She took the knife and killed the man.

To say that Eren's dad was horrified was an understatement. Eren didn't understand why he was so angry. All he wanted was to save Mikasa. When he told that to his dad, he looked defeated. It was after that that the girl spoke.

"Where am I to go now?" There was no fear in her question, only acceptance. "It's cold. I have nowhere to go." Mikasa wasn't even looking at them as she spoke. That's why she was so surprised when Eren put his scarf around her neck.

"There," he had said "It's warm, right?" And for a moment they could pretend that all her problems were solved by that small token of affection.

After that, Eren's parents adopted Mikasa. He loved his new sister and was very happy when she became such good friends with his best friend.

Presently, Eren sighed again and buried his face against a pillow. He needed to do something to stop Mikasa's bad habit. He also had to keep an eye on Armin. Eren was very protective of the boy, which was to be expected with the blonde's history of being bullied.

Eren tried to distract himself with better thoughts. He thought of Armin's book about the "outside world" and about their dream of someday traveling the world together.

The brunette fell asleep with the sound of the ocean and Armin's laughter in his mind.

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**There's chapter one! If you liked it please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**As always, I don't own SNK or any of its characters. **

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Armin hummed as he made his way to school. A light smile appeared on his face as he felt someone begin to walk by his side.

"Hey, Armin."

"Morning, Reiner."

Every day on their way to school their paths would cross so they would keep each other company.

They walked in comfortable silence. Armin was distracted with his own thoughts when he suddenly felt the weight of his backpack missing. He looked over to Reiner who carried the blonde's bag over his shoulder. He didn't say anything.

Armin felt upset. He knew that what Reiner had just done was a sign of friendship. The older boy probably thought he was doing him a favor, but it made Armin angry to think that the taller boy (and probably many other people) felt he needed help. The blonde couldn't take that.

He would rather die than be a burden.

Of course, he didn't say that. He moved behind Reiner, pulled his backpack out of the older boy's grasp, and moved a step ahead of him.

"I can carry this just fine," Armin said with a light hint of bitterness, but it soon became playful. "In fact, I bet I can get to school before you."

With that, he ran off, leaving a startled Reiner in his wake. The taller blonde smirked and went after him.

Armin did indeed beat Reiner to their goal, but it was honestly probably because of the head start. Once there, they said their goodbyes and went to their respective meeting points with their friends.

Armin sat down on the bench outside of the school entrance. He took out a book and read as he waited for his friends to arrive.

Ten minutes later he felt someone put their arms around his neck and lay their chin on top of his head. "Morning, Mikasa." He also felt someone lay their head on his lap with a frustrated sigh. "Morning, Eren."

"I couldn't do the math thing." The brown haired boy said as he covered his eyes with his arm."

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out."

The bell rang some time after that. Their first two periods of the day, English and Chemistry, went on like normal. Armin was not in Advanced Placement Chemistry, not because he was bad at the subject, but because the teacher of regular chemistry was Ms. Hanji. She was crazy passionate about the subject and Armin was sure he would learn more from her alone than from the other class's advanced material.

After that, they had their 15 a minute break. The 3 friends were walking to the cafeteria but Armin stopped them by the Community Service boards.

"Eren! You haven't done almost any hours!" Eren scowled.

"Yes I have! I did 10 already!" The blonde rolled his eyes.

"That's because I literally forced you to go to those, and you need at least 50 hours to pass the school year!"

Eren crossed his arms but argued no more. The shortest of the 3 looked at the available activities. "There are only a few spots left for a birthday party in an orphanage this Friday. That could be fun." Armin turned to Mikasa (since Eren had no saying on the matter) "should we sign up?"

The black haired girl sighed. "You should, but I can't go. The physical education teacher asked me to give the presentation frot he electives fair."

The electives fair was where the middle schoolers, who would have to choose their electives for next year, got a taste of what each class was about. Of each elective, the highschool student with the highest grade had to explain what the course was about and their experiences in it. Since highschool left earlier than middleschool on Fridays, Mikasa and the other students would have to stay after school.

"So you got the best score again? Congratulations."

"What about you? Aren't you going to represent AP Psychology?"

"The teacher giving my elective is leaving next year so the course will not be available. It's a shame really."

Armin took a pencil out of his bag and began to write his and Eren's name on the sign up sheet. Eren had been watching him with a pissed off expression, which erupted when he noticed a certain name already written on the list.

"Stop stop stop! That horseface, _Jean_, signed up!"

Armin's hand froze halfway through writing Eren's name.

Jean was not a bad guy, but he had an attitude that always seemed to clash with Eren's. They were both stubborn and proud and unable to back down from a confrontation. Of course, Armin had come to realize that Jean did this more playfully than spitefully, but Eren didn't take it well. Although he seemed to enjoy the rivalry at times, there were moment were his temper was truly being tested and the stress could make Armin hear his own heartbeat in his ears. It was only a matter of time for Jean to say the wrong thing or make the wrong gesture and Eren's true rage would be released. Armin had tried to keep his friend as far away from Jean as possible. Although people were not afraid of Eren, they knew not to piss him off. Jean didn't seem to care, and actually went out of his way to bother the green eyed boy.

Armin forced a smile as he kept writing.

"It's fine, Eren! He's not that bad! Besides, you really need those hours."

Eren stared at the paper as if it was his own death sentence being signed.

The bell rang soon after that. Mikasa and Eren went to P.E while Armin went to his own class. Their teacher, Shadiss, was in a specially foul mood that day and made them all run an extra lap if anything resembling a word escaped their mouths.

Since it was Wednesday, they had homeroom afterwards. Eren said goodbye to his sister and went to the classroom where he usually had Character Education. It was really Ms. Petra's classroom and since he had homeroom with her, that was where that class took place as well. It annoyed Eren that lunch was between Homeroom and character education for if it were otherwise he wouldn't have to leave the room at all.

Homeroom is a fancy name for free period. At lunch time, Eren and Armin met up with Mikasa and sat at their usual table.

A few tables away, Connie was munching on a macaroon. Jean stared bitterly at him. "You're so lucky you have homeroom with Armin." He muttered. "Why didn't you bring us any?"

Connie popped the last bit into his mouth. "There were only enough for one per student."

"Not even a little crumb."

"It was very delicious."

"Shut up."

Marco chuckled at his friend's antics.

The bell rang. Eren and Armin made their way back to Ms. Petra's classroom. They entered and took their regular seats. As he did so, Armin caught sight of Jean. This brought back the thoughts from before.

If there was anyone that Armin had to look out for when it came to Eren, it was Jean kirschtein. Eren's temper seemed to shorten every time they talked to each other. Armin could see the not-so-metaphoric fuse attached to the bomb that was his best friend. If the fuse reached its end, it could bring catastrophic consequences.

In that moment Armin made a decision. He would befriend Jean. At the very least, get to know him. If he did, then maybe he would be able to talk him into giving Eren a break.

The blonde was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when the teacher called for their attention.

"I have a very important announcement to make." Ms. Petra exclaimed. "You will have…" every student in class dreaded her next words "a major assignment!" As expected, the reactions were groans from everyone.

"I see you are all excited." Ms. Petra smirked. "This project will be split into two parts, one in which the whole class will have to work together, and one where everyone will be split in teams of 2." There were the typical two reactions: the one where everyone felt horror and dread for the upcoming days, and the one where everyone turned to the person they wanted to have as partner. Eren sent Armin a look that was a mixture of annoyance and worry.

"This project, as you know, will be of character traits. Each pair will get one and will have to make a booth for it. You see, we are going to have a fair." All the students began to talk to each other.

"That is the whole-class part. It _wont_ simply be a fair where we go from one booth to the next. There must be a script. There will be two "moderators" who will be leading me around. They will be making all the questions that the individual teams have to answer. The moderators will be chosen by the class later on, it is recommended for them to be the most knowledgeable people in the class so they can help you out with your questions."

Armin sighed. There was no chance that they weren't going to make him moderator.

"Now the details of the project will be handed out to you in a moment. Simply put, you have to come up with a creative way to represent, define, express, and spread your assigned character trait. The few requirements for your booths are as follows: Shirts with a logo, symbol, phrase, etc, that represents your character trait. It must be school appropriate." That got a few snickers.

"You also need a visual representation. It can be a comic, a poster, a puppet show, be creative! You are required one other thing of your own design. You need to explain how it exemplifies your character trait." Jean rubbed his face with his hands. This was going to be heavy.

"Alright! Now I will give you your assigned teammates." Everyone groaned as they realized they wouldn't be able to choose who they worked with. Usually Ms. Petra was nice enough to let them pick, but she seemed to have decided otherwise for what appeared to be the most important project of the year.

"This is going to suck." Eren muttered angrily. Armin patted his back.

"Come on Eren! It could be fun!" The blonde tried to cheer him up.

"Here are the teams and their respective character traits: Connie and Sasha are integrity. Eren and Berthodlt are honesty. Christa and Thomas are caring. Jean and Armin are courage…" Armin stopped listening after that. He looked at Jean out of the corner in of his eye. The older boy was talking to Connie and Sasha who were giving each other a high-five.

_This could work out. _Armin thought. _We'll have to spend a lot of time together to work on this. This can be my chance to get him to lay off Eren._

A paper with the information was handed to everyone.

"We will vote for the moderators now. Everyone put your heads down. Raise your arm when you hear the person you would want for the job. You can only vote twice." It took a while, but the end results were Armin ("I did not see that coming at all." Eren muttered.) and Connie ("Armin will make us get a decent grade and Connie will make us not die of boredom. It's perfect!" Someone said.)

Although the blonde wasn't looking forward to the educational part of the project, he was glad it would give him a chance to start a project of his own.

* * *

"This has been the worst day ever." Eren was in a terrible mood to say the least.

"Eren, just because Mr. Levi smirked when you fell off your chair doesn't mean he _made_ you fall off." Mr. Levi was their History teacher and he was the only human in the world Eren was afraid of. He couldn't even explain why, but he flinched every time the older man did any sudden moves.

"Just accept it. He hates me!"

"That midget hates everyone." Mikasa said. She had a strong dislike for the teacher since Eren was so afraid of him. It was to be expected. If it where up to her, there would be a special place in hell for anyone who treated Eren badly.

"Let's stop talking about this and start working on calculus, alright?"

Armin opened his backpack and looked for his calculator. Eren looked over Armin's shoulder and saw the giant 3 inch binder that he had to take to advanced placement calculus. Also the giant textbook for that same class, the box where he had brought the macaroons, 2 notebooks, a novel, a regular sized binder, and one other textbook.

"You're going to have back problems when you're older." Eren muttered.

The blonde's face twitched and his voice became bitter. "I can deal with it."

Eren raised an eyebrow, but by the time Armin faced him again, the blonde was all smiles.

"Quadratic functions, here we come!"

* * *

Armin had to leave Eren and Mikasa's house earlier than usual. He didn't tell his friends the real reason, instead saying that he promised to help his grandfather clean the house. The blonde was actually on his way to Jean's house. They had agreed to meet that day to start working early on the CE project and have lots of time to get things prepared.

To be honest, Armin was nervous. He had talked to Jean before and they had been on friendly terms, but he had never been alone with him before.

_How am I going to get him to leave Eren alone? If I do this wrong he'll just target him more! Would he do that? Maybe I'm judging him all wrong._

Soon he was standing right at the door. He took a deep breath before knocking.

_Alright, for now just think of it as a visit to a friend. It's just homework. Focus on it and just go from there._

Jean opened the door, a light smirk on his face.

"Blondie is here! Time to get to work!"

"Hello to you too, Jean."

The taller boy led him inside to what seemed like the living room and sat down on a table. Surprisingly, Jean was the first one to strike up casual conversation. It was also much easier to talk to him than Armin thought it would be. Eventually they focused on their project.

"Where do we start?" Jean asked. Armin crossed his arms.

"The first thing we should do is come up with a definition of our trait."

"And how do we do that?"

"Well, we could look up different meaning in the internet, and with those in mind, make one of our own. "

"Roger that." Jean said with a slightly teasing tone.

They each took out their laptops and began to search. Once in a while either boy would show the other a certain definition they found and shared their thoughts about it. All of the definitions seemed to be very vague.

"Look at this one." Jean said as he passed his laptop to Armin. The blonde boy looked away from his own screen and read what Jean showed him.

_Courage: When one defeats adversities to do what is right_

Armin scowled without meaning to. Jean raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?"

Armin tried to smile, but it ended looking quite grim. "Nothing. I just don't agree with this definition at all."

Jean leaned his head against his hand. "How come?"

The younger boy looked down with a light frown. "It's just… You don't necessarily have to be doing something good for it to be considered brave."

He paused for a moment. The brown haired boy looked at the blonde with interest. Armin continued, although he seemed to be talking more to himself than to Jean.

"I think courage is overcoming fear to accomplish, or attempt to accomplish, something." He was silent again. The way those blue eyes seemed to be lost in another world far away from his own kind of fascinated Jean. Armin was probably one of those people who thought too much and too hard about everything.

"To be able to accomplish something…" he continued. "To be able to truly do anything, _change_ anything, you have to be willing to _loose_ everything. That is courage."

Jean stared at him for a moment. Armin was still looking down, lost in his thoughts. That is, until the brown haired boy pulled him into a headlock and rubbed his knuckles against the blonde's head. Armin squealed and was efficiently snapped out of his musings.

"Oh man! You might be the most brilliant guy I know, but you're too cute for your own damn good!"

Eventually, Jean let go of Armin. He chuckled as he watched the blonde boy pat his head with a slight pout.

"That hurt."

"Too cute."

Armin couldn't, for the life of him, explain why it felt so natural to chat with Jean. As they worked, Armin found himself watching the older boy.

_He really isn't that bad. We could all be good friends. If only Eren…_

Armin gasped as he realized where his thoughts were going. He slammed his laptop shut. "No!" He told himself in horror.

Startled, Jean turned away from his laptop and towards the other boy. "Armin? What's wrong?"

The blonde in question didn't answer. He felt so much hatred towards himself in that moment that it was hard to breath. He had wished, for only a second mind you, that Eren…

He hadn't wished for that for years now. He accepted Eren how he was and loved everything about him. He knew that was true, but his mind had come to _that_ thought without his permission.

"Armin?"

He felt like he had betrayed his friend. What kind of horrible-

"Armin!" Jean shook him by the shoulders, snapping him out of his thoughts. The blonde looked up, eyes slightly teary.

"I-I'm sorry. I-" He took a deep breath. "I had... a bad thought. It wont happen again." The second part was hard as stone and Jean had a very concerned look on his face.

"If you want to talk about it-"

"No, I'm ok. Really."

They kept working after that, but Armin could feel the brown haired boy throwing him a couple glances now and then.

After a while, they had all of the information. All they needed now was the symbol and the idea of how to spread their character trait.

"How do you spread courage?" Armin murmured. They had moved from the table, to the couches. The smaller boy was laying on his back, his legs prompted up on Jeans´ lap. The fact that they were so comfortable around each other kind of scared Armin.

"Give everyone beer?" Jean offered.

"Neh. Too much to clean up afterwards."

"Maybe we can just pretend like we are going to punch someone. If they yell then we put a "You failed" sticker. If they defend themselves we put a "Congratulations" sticker."

Although it was a joke, Armin's head rose suddenly.

"I think you're onto something, Jean." The brown haired boy lifted an eyebrow.

"The punching idea? Really?"

"Not that! The stickers!" Armin got up, excitedly. Jean watched him with what he convinced himself was not fondness. He looked away and decided to take Armin´s spot on the couch. As if he wasn't even there, the blonde just sat on the older boy's stomach, a notebook in hand.

Jean gasped. "Wow! You look light but it's just a lie!"

"Shush! Listen!" Armin began to scribble something. "We need to make a symbol for our shirts right? Well we should make stickers with that symbol and hand them around. It's simple but it gets the point across."

Jean looked up at the blonde.

"You already have a symbol?"

Armin smiled proudly.

"I think I do."

* * *

**I'm sure Armin's "project" wont backfire at all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I actually have most of the next chapter written so it will come soon!**

**As always, I don't own SNK or any of its characters.**

* * *

"Good to see you, Armin! Your order arrived!" It was Thursday after school and, like always, they were at the central mall. The moment the 3 had walked into the store, the owner called out to a certain blonde who was also his favorite client.

Armin beamed and made his way to the counter.

"It's here already?! But it's supposed to be released till next week!"

"For you, we made a few calls and got an early copy." The old man said fondly. Well, Armin did buy at least 5 books in each visit. He knew all of the workers by name and they all seemed to be in a better mood when the blonde appeared in the store.

"They love to spoil you here." Eren said with a small laugh. He let his chin fall onto Armin's shoulder. "What book is it anyway?"

The boy's blue eyes widened with glee.

"It's the sequel to this story I love." He began to explain it's context and Eren just smiled and watched the excited look on his friend's face with affection.

"Oh! Armin!" A young girl suddenly interrupted. She worked at the bookstore and knew them all well. "A new book arrived that I thought you might like. Here, let me go get it." She left for a moment to return with a giant hardcover book titled 'The oceans of Europe'.

"Look, Eren!" The blonde took the book and began to flip the pages. Both boys stared at the images in awe.

"We're going to see all of this, Armin." The brunette whispered in his friend's ear.

"I know, Eren." He answered and took the other boy's hand in his own.

With those two books under his arm and Eren's hand in his, Armin walked around the store. They saw Mikasa looking at a book, but when she realized she had been spotted she went away quickly. Curiously they made their way to where she had been looking and they decided it had to be 'How to get rid of bad habits' because the book next to it was 'How to care for your hedgehog'.

A few books later, Armin payed for his things and the 3 friends walked out. They chatted as they walked to the food court. They were about to sit down at their usual table when Armin gave a little jump.

"I forgot something at the book store! I'll be right back!" With that, he ran off before his friends could even ask him what he had forgotten.

Eren sighed before he turned to his sister.

"The usual?" She nodded.

Mikasa watched the green eyed boy as he went to buy their food. A shiver went through her as she thought she felt a sudden breeze. She lifted her scarf so it would cover more of her face.

It would be much later until she realize there couldn't have been a breeze inside a mall.

By the time Eren got back with their food, Armin was back from the store. When they asked him what he left he just said that he remembered there was another book he wanted to buy. They decided not to question it.

After lunch, they walked around some more although they never went into any of the other stores. They talked of anything and everything, Eren's left arm hooked with Mikasa's, and his right arm with Armin's.

"Is it true that Hanji set the fire alarm off again?"

"Yes. One of the test tubes exploded and there was a lot of smoke. The alarm only went off in our wing for some reason and no one took it seriously." Mikasa answered.

"Well, so much for all our fire drills!" Eren scowled.

"You'd think with them knowing Ms. Hanji is next door they would see a fire as something that is completely possible." The blonde mused.

"Mr. Levi did stick his head in. He said something along the lines of 'Did you blow up one of the kids again?' ". Eren gulped at the sound of the history teacher's name. Armin began to laugh.

"Oh, God. How did he react when he saw the mess?"

"I think I saw his eye twitch, but he just sent some students, who had been annoying him, to clean."

"That is his favorite form of punishment."

* * *

They dropped Armin off at his house before driving to theirs.

When she arrived, Mikasa sighed tiredly as she let go of her bag and it plopped onto the ground. Strangely enough there was the sound of something solid hitting the floor. The black haired girl looked down. She only had her wallet and her keys there. What had made that noise? She bent down to open the bag and her eyes widened. She took out of the bag a copy of the book 'How to get rid of bad habits' with the message '_You can do it!_' written in familiar handwriting on a sticky note.

* * *

The next day, school was uneventful. They usually got out early on Fridays but since Eren and Armin had community service and Mikasa had the elective's fair presentation, the 3 friends would be leaving much later. A bus would be taking them to the orphanage and back, but Mikasa's event ended before that, so she insisted on picking them up at the orphanage. Eren seemed slightly annoyed at her insistence, but Armin thanked her and accepted.

They said goodbye to her and made their way to the school entrance. The bus was already parked there and they decided to go ahead and take a seat inside. It was about half full, meaning most of the people were already there. With dread, Eren searched for a certain horseface and was relieved when he realized the boy wasn't there. Almost everyone was at the very back. Eren and Armin sat in the middle. Eren poked at his friend's face.

"Why do you always have that silly smile when we travel on bus?"

"I can't help it! I just feel like… we're going on an adventure or something! I can't quite explain it."

Eren snickered. He was in a much better mood now that the possibility of Jean not turning up became a reality. 10 minutes later, more people had arrived but no horseface. The teacher began to take attendance and in fact Jean was the only person missing. Armin began to feel a bit worried. If you sign up to a community service activity and don't show up they take away hours.

Eren was anxious to leave while they still could.

"Isn't it time to go? There are children waiting!"

Armin scowled and Eren gave him an innocent look. The teacher seemed to consider the idea.

"Please wait for a bit more. I'm sure he's on his way." Armin insisted. The green eyed boy huffed and crossed his arms.

"We'll give Mr. kirschtein 5 more minutes."

It was 3 minutes later that Jean finally got there.

"I made it! I'm sorry!"

Trying to avoid the teacher's angry gaze, he quickly made his way into the bus. He caught sight of Armin and Eren and smirked as he walked towards them. Eren, who had been crossing his fingers for the last 3 minutes, scowled and looked out the window, trying to ignore Jean. The boy in question sat behind the other two and put his arms around their shoulders.

"Hello, my friends!" He greeted. Eren's frown deepened.

"What are you doing?" He barked. Jean pretended to be confused.

"Well, what everyone in this bus is doing; use my free time to make children happy. What's your problem, Eren?"

Armin tried hard not to giggle. The green eyed boy stuttered angrily.

"Tha-that's not what I meant!"

The drive went on like that. Eren would try to ignore Jean by talking to Armin, but the taller boy would keep including himself in the conversation. To make matters worse, the blonde would _let_ him.

When the bus parked, Jean had just finished making a joke and Eren was fuming.

"Eren! Smile! You are going to scare the children." Armin said, poking his friend's face. Jean blinked for a moment before laughing, hard.

"Armin! You just made a joke!" He ruffled the blonde's hair. "You silly atta boy!"

"Jean! Not so loud!" The teacher reprimanded. The boy blushed lightly and apologized.

Eren was about to threaten the taller boy (somewhere along the lines of "touch him again and I'll cut your fucking hand off") but the teacher called for them to get out of the bus.

The green eyed boy took Armin's hand and made his way out. Jean followed them happily.

Once inside the orphanage they were all lead into a room where the party would take place. They had 20 minutes to get things ready before the children would be brought there. The teacher began to separate everyone into chores.

"Alright, you two get the sound system working. You two (pointing at Eren and a random guy) put up all the tables. You two (pointing at Armin and Jean) put up balloons and decorations…"

Eren thought this day couldn't get any worse.

Armin told Jean to blow up the balloons while he taped them around the room. They worked like that for a while. The brunette couldn't help chuckle when the blonde had to give a little jump to tape the balloon to a higher spot. He found it "endearing" (heck yeah, Armin would be proud to hear Jean say that word). Eren watched this and felt rage bubbling in his stomach for he mistook Jean's laughter as him making fun of the blonde.

Once all the balloons were up, Armin had the idea to cut some ribbons and tie them to the balloons. Again, Jean would cut them and Armin would tie them.

There was a certain balloon that Armin had been able to get a good jump and had gotten pretty high up. He couldn't reach it and he couldn't tie while jumping. Jean put down the ribbon he had been about to cut and made his way to Armin. He took the ribbon from the blonde's hand.

"I got it."

"Give it back!" Jean was slightly shocked at Armin's defensive tone. The blonde tried to snatch the ribbon from his hand. Jean could see traces of anger and… fear on his face. Suddenly the brunette felt understanding begin to flood him.

"It's ok to let others help you once in a while. " His voice was soft. A small smile appeared on his face. "Marco once told me that accepting weakness made you stronger. No one is good at everything and that is why people compliment each other. A flaw is only weakness when you decide not to acknowledge it."

Armin, who had still been holding on to the ribbon, looked down. He was silent for a moment before letting it go. Jean smiled. He tied it on the balloon and took a step back. The blonde moved next to him. Jean looked down at Armin and the boy let himself relax and smile.

"Much better." Said the brunette before turning to the balloon. "Don't you think?"

Far away, Eren watched with a scowl. He didn't like it when Armin and Jean talked. He didn't like it when they were anywhere near each other.

* * *

Once everything was ready; children were brought into the room. One small girl, around 7, seemed to fall in love with Armin the moment she laid eyes on him. She held onto his sweater for the rest of the day. Since there were more volunteers than orphans, Eren and Jean decided to just help the blonde with the girl.

The party began with many activities. They played musical chairs (where the girl insisted she would only play if she got to sit on Armin's lap), tag (Whenever Jean was it he would go after Armin, and Eren would throw himself infront of the taller boy to force him to stop), freeze (Eren and jean would make stupid faces at each other so that one of them would loose concentration and move. Armin wondered who the children in the room really were), and lastly a balloon popping game.

For that one, everyone had to tie a balloon to their leg. The goal was to step on other people's balloons and popping them while keeping yours intact. Armin had never played the game before since he didn't like the sound that occurred when balloons popped, but the girl had declared that if he didn't play then neither would she so the teacher sent him a death glare and forced him to participate.

The moment the popping began, the girl shrieked and held onto Armin. The blonde spent most of the game "protecting" the girl from the other kids. He soon found out he was rather good at the game, after getting used to the noise. At the other side, Eren and Jean were having an epic battle (of course they would both cut their tongues out before admitting they were enjoying it). Neither of them could pop the other's balloon.

It was not until there were around only 7 people left in the game that the girl said "It's ok, Armin. I want to loose now." She let him go and pointed to his friends. "Go get them."

As Eren and Jean where so concentrated on watching each other's feet, they were shocked when there was a sudden movement around them and 2 loud "pops" were heard. They stopped moving and stared at the now deflated balloons tied to their legs. They looked up just to see Armin laughing. They watched him with impressed looks as he made his way to the people who were left in the game.

In the end it was Armin against a kid from the place, so he pretended to put up a fight but eventually let the child beat him.

After that, it was lunch time. Eren and Jean watched Armin feed the girl with something nearing jealousy.

When it was time to go, they had expected the girl to cry, but instead she gave Armin a big kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye.

"Looks like you got yourself a fan, huh?" Jean said as they walked out of the school. Armin placed a hand over his cheek.

"She was really sweet. I do hope things go well for her."

Eren frowned and took Armin's hand.

"Well, time to go. Mikasa is waiting for us." In fact he had gotten 3 text of her already letting him know she would be waiting for them outside to take them home.

"Oh, you're not going back in the bus?"

_Is that not obvious? Why are you still talking! _Eren thought

"Mikasa is picking us up..." Armin explained.

_That's what I just said! _

"…Do you need a ride?"

_What?! No!_

Eren's horror must have been obvious because Jean rubbed the back of his neck.

"Nah it's fine. I forgot a book in my locker anyway."

Armin could tell that was a lie. He gave him a sad smile.

"Ok then. See you."

With that, Eren pulled his friend away.

"What's with you!? Offering the horseface a ride!"

"What you did was very rude, Eren. I'm disappointed."

That hurt more than it should have, but he didn't let it affect his anger. They were soon inside Eren and Mikasa's car. She greeted the two and asked them how it had been.

"Fine, but Armin kept being all "buddy buddy" with Jean."

"He really isn't that bad, Eren! I'm sure we could all be good friends."

"A world at peace. That _does_ sound nice." Mikasa knew all about Eren's attitude towards Jean.

Eren huffed and crossed his arms.

"I like my world just as it is, thank you very much." Armin and Mikasa sighed with worry. Eren had trouble dealing with change sometimes. Specially when it came to his friends.

* * *

That night, Eren couldn't sleep. There was this bitterness in his chest that wouldn't leave. He knew what it was: he was worried about Armin. Lately the blonde seemed to be spending more time with Jean or going out of his way to talk to him. His friend might be the smartest kid in their entire school, but he could still be naïve. He was too kind for his own good too. Eren feared that Jean would take advantage of this and hurt him. The thought brought a shiver down his spine.

He wouldn't let that happen. He would protect Armin. Before falling asleep, Eren made the decision to keep an eye out for them and try to keep the blonde and the horseface separate.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own SNK or any of its characters.**

* * *

The loud sound of the blender almost made Armin miss the ringing of the phone. He switched it off and effectively, there it was. He quickly made his way to the receiver and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey shorty."

Armin raised an eyebrow but truth be told he wasn't that surprised.

"Jean? How do you even have my home number?"

"I have my ways, Armin Arlert." His attempt at a dramatic tone made the blonde roll his eyes. "Anyway, I call to ask if you want to meet at the stationary shop today. It would be good to look for the materials we need and see if we can order the shirts and stickers there. Plus there's a really good restaurant next to it and we could get some lunch after."

Armin couldn't help the smile creeping on his face.

"Sounds like a plan."

They set a time to meet, then hanged up. Armin walked back into the kitchen and stood before the batter he had been mixing before the call. He bit his lip in thought.

_Should I… take some? They were going to be for tuesday, but… It's fine! There's more than enough!_

With a decision made, he went back to work.

* * *

When Jean arrived at the shop, he caught sight of a certain blue eyed boy who was looking at the different sizes of cardboard.

"Armin!" He greeted as he made his way to the blonde. "Sorry If I kept you waiting, traffic was a bitch."

"Don't worry about it. I walked and I live nearby so I got here fairly quickly."

He lifted up two cardboards.

"Which size is better?"

Jean looked over the blonde's shoulder and tilted his head.

"The bigger one? Better have extra then not enough, no?"

"My thought exactly."

After that, they went to the printing area and asked for information about t-shirts and stickers. They could have both orders done by next week. They looked around for a bit more before purchasing their things and going to the restaurant next doors.

"I'm glad I got teamed up with you. You make me be more productive! I think I would've left this entire thing for the last minute if it would have been anyone else."

Armin wanted to argue that it had been Jean who had the initiative to go to the stationary shop in the first place, but something stopped him. He suddenly had a feeling that Jean judged himself much too harshly.

"I still have a lot of things to do. I literally have to do the entire script all on my own." The script that the whole class had to be a part of consisted of two questions for each student about their character trait. It couldn't be too obvious either. It had to flow and be more casual.

Jean frowned.

"Wasn't Connie a moderator too?"

Armin raised an eyebrow and gave him a _seriously_? Look.

"Pft. Forget I said that."

The blonde sighed.

"I'll just send everyone an email and tell them what their questions have to be about. Hopefully they'll send them soon so I can start working on it."

"They probably wont."

Armin flicked his spoon.

"That's why I have a plan. I'll do something like bring cookies to the people who send them the day I ask."

Jean's eyes seemed to brighten at his words.

"Can you make snickerdoodles?! I love snickerdoodles!"

Armin chuckled into his hand.

"Maybe if you keep being a good project partner I'll make some just for you."

The brunette whooped and raised an arm in victory.

They kept chatting as they ate. Once they were done, Jean took another look at the menu.

"You wanna order some dessert?"

Armin blinked, suddenly remembering what was in his messenger bag.

"Actually, I brought this." He took out a small plastic container and opened it. He placed two cupcakes on the table. Jean stared at them for a moment.

"Are those…"

"Red velvet. Yes."

The brunette looked away from the sweets and at Armin like he was the most wonderful human being in the world.

_Huh. So this is what Christa feels._ The blonde thought for a moment, blushing lightly.

They ate their deserts and asked for the check.

* * *

Jean was in the best of moods. He loved Armin's cooking. He could eat it forever. He whistled as they walked out of the restaurant.

"You look so genuinely happy it's kind of terrifying." The blonde joked.

"Food has that power."

"I think you've been spending too much time with Sasha." Jean nudged him playfully. The brunette looked up.

"There's a park across the street. Wanna take a walk?"

"You just want to buy ice cream, don't you?"

"You know me too well."

As they made their way there, Armin wondered if he should worry about the light guilt that was gnawing at him. This was the park that he went to with Eren and Mikasa on Mondays. It felt a bit like betrayal to be doing that with someone else, but… Armin looked at Jean's face for a moment. The brunette caught his eye and sent him a happy grin. It filled Armin with a nice warmth and he reminded himself that, in the end, he was doing this for Eren's benefit.

They chatted amiably as they walked (It also included lots of jokes from Jean about how the sunlight made Armin's eyes "sparkle"). Once they neared the ice cream cart, Jean took hold of Armin's arm.

"Stop! I want to guess which type you like." The blonde tilted his head. "It's a challenge! Just stay here!" With that, the taller boy ran off leaving Armin to shake his head with a little laugh.

And of course, because fate willed it so, his cell phone rang at that very moment. The blonde jolted before searching for his mobile device in his messenger bag.

"Hello?"

"Where are you? You wouldn't answer your house phone!"

Armin choked.

"Eren! I-" He tried not to stutter. "I just went to buy some… ingredients I needed for some cookies."

"Oooh! Which?"

His heart skipped a beat.

"Snickerdoodles."

"Can't wait! Do you want to do something? I'm bored. Can I go to your house?"

Armin frowned lightly.

"What about Mikasa?"

"We are fighting right now."

The blonde rolled his eyes with a light smirk.

"About?"

"She keeps treating me like a baby! This morning there wasn't enough milk so I offered for her to have it but she outright refused! I'm the guy! I'm the one supposed to do things for her!"

Armin massaged his temples.

"She's your sister. She cares about you. Deal with it."

"Come on, Armin! Are you almost done with your shopping?"

The blonde paused.

"Not yet," He looked over to where Jean was. "I still want to look around a bit more."

"Mm ok. Call me when you're home?"

"Will do. See you!"

He hanged up and stared at the phone for a moment. He had just lied to his closest friend and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"I'm back! Time for you to judge my judgment!"

He placed the cup in Armin's hands. The blonde blinked.

"Orange?"

"It's just that…" Suddenly the brunette looked bashful. "I read somewhere that people who like orange are really hardworking and trustworthy. They are also caring and reliable and… I just thought that sounded like you."

The blonde looked at his ice cream then up at Jean with a warm smile.

"What about yours?" This question startled Jean lightly.

"Huh? I like peach. I don't remember what that means. So… was I right?"

Armin took a spoonful of the icy dessert.

"I always choose coconut, but I do like orange."

Jean snapped his fingers.

"Coconut! Of course! Those are the thoughtful and alert people!"

The blonde laughed.

"Aren't_ I_ supposed to be the one in AP psychology?"

"Yes and I am very disappointed in your lack of knowledge on fruits and the obvious influence our character has on our taste buds."

Armin laughed again.

They joked and talked as they walked around, but there were times where they were just in comfortable silence. It felt nice.

Armin didn't notice how close they were to each other until the taller boy asked if he could try some of Armin's ice cream and the blonde realized that he hardily had to extend his hand to feed him a spoon full because Jean's face was _right there_.

After being at the park for some time, Jean offered to walk Armin home. The blonde really wanted to chat with the brunette some more, but he feared that maybe Eren would have ignored the blonde and had gone to his house anyway. He would surely freak out if he saw Jean and Armin together.

"It's fine. I live nearby. I'll get there faster by walking and I don't want to make you walk back here for your car."

Armin thought he saw something similar to disappointment cross Jean's eyes.

"Well, if you're sure. Thanks for coming and all."

"No problem! Thank you for the ice cream."

As he walked away, he thought about the strange happiness and heaviness that grew in his heart. It dawned on him that he really didn't want to leave.

Before he could hesitate, he turned around to look at Jean.

He hadn't moved from where Armin had left him, but he was looking down at the ground. Lost in thought, perhaps? He looked slightly concerned and Armin had to force himself to not run back and slap that look off his face. He didn't like seeing Jean so serious. It was so different from the cheeky grin he always had.

The blonde forced himself to look away and move forward. It had been a good day and he wasn't going to ruin it by over-thinking.

* * *

Just as suspected: Eren was standing against his car, eyes closed, in front of Armin's house. The blonde sighed but he couldn't help smile.

"So much for 'call me when you're home".

Eren blinked. He looked up and smiled.

"You were taking too long."

The blonde rolled his eyes before taking out his keys and opening the house. Eren cheered as he threw himself onto the couch.

"Did you get everything you needed for the cookies?" He asked, his voice muffled by the pillows his face was against. Armin bit his lip before answering.

"I decided not to buy any of that. I only had limited money and I thought it would be best if I used it to buy some things for the character education project."

Eren groaned.

"Don't remind me of that! We have too many things to dooo."

"I should also remind you to think of your questions and send them to me so I can write the skit."

"Can't you choose them for me?"

"The whole point of writing them yourself is that you can be sure that you will know how to answer them."

Eren groaned again.

"I don't want to thiiink!" Armin sighed. He recognized the tone of voice of his friend. It was the one he had when he was stressed and tired. He got touchy and pouty and what he needed was lots of sleep.

The blonde laid down next to Eren on the couch. The brunette immediately put his arms around the smaller boy's waist and buried his head against his chest. Armin patted his back and caressed his hair.

"You're being annoying, Eren." He said fondly.

"Hmm…" He snuggled closer. Armin decided some sleep would do him good too. He let his eyes close and soon they both drifted off.

* * *

"Eren. Armin. Wake up."

The blonde groaned, blue eyes opening grudgingly. Everything looked blury, but Eren seemed to be more awake.

"Mikasa! How did you know I was here?"

Oh, right. Mikasa had a copy of Armin's house keys. Armin's vision cleared up and he was able to see the black haired girl give Eren and incredulous look before moving on.

"Mom wants you to come back."

"Can't do that, I'm still mad at you."

Although Armin knew that this whole "argument" had started because of Eren's moodiness, but the brunette was too stubborn to back down. Mikasa didn't even frown, only looked slightly tired.

"I bought more milk already."

"This isn't about the milk, and you know it!"

Armin sighed. He leaned against Eren tiredly.

"Stop it you guys! Just go home, Eren. "

"Why are you always on her side?!"

"I'm against conflict. Your side simply seems to be the one responsible for it most of the time."

Armin walked them to the door and waved goodbye.

As he went back inside, the ringing of the phone filled the house for a second time that day. Armin went to the receiver and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, blondie. So, Marco's dad works at a bookstore and he's got free tickets to the book fair for tomorrow. I know you're like the biggest book worm ever so I thought you might want to go." It was Jean.

Armin wanted to hesitate (he really did!) but books and good company? How could he say no to that?

"You really want those cookies don't you?"

"Am I that transparent?"

Armin chuckled.

"I'd love to."


End file.
